


this city screams your name

by TheSilverAssassin



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Book 1 AU, Equalist Asami Sato, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverAssassin/pseuds/TheSilverAssassin
Summary: There is something, Asami decides, about Republic City that drives everyone a little crazy.For Korra, it's the Equalists. For Asami, it's Korra.Equalist Asami Book 1 AU
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 22
Kudos: 201





	this city screams your name

**Author's Note:**

> Diverges from canon events halfway through The Aftermath (Mako and Bolin come to live at Asami's mansion but they don't find the Equalist factory underground)

There is something, Asami decides, about Republic City that drives everyone a little crazy. Maybe it’s the initial feeling of invincibility and opportunity that comes with moving to a land of towering skyscrapers after having left a dinky little Earth Kingdom village. Maybe it’s the slowly creeping sense of defeat that comes with being worked to the bone, far more worn than back home farming in the Fire Nation. Maybe it’s living crammed, shoulder to shoulder with strangers from all over the world, far more types of people than existed in the Water Tribes at the edges of the world.

Whatever it is, Asami decides, Republic City doesn’t leave anyone unchanged. Those like her, who were born and grew up in the metropolis their whole lives, are probably crazier than the rest.

Why else, she reasons, would she be practicing chi blocking on a Saturday night in some abandoned warehouse on the edges of the Dragon Flats borough, her fists striking quick, methodical, up the straw stuffed arms, instead of cavorting with the city’s highbrow citizens? That’s where she’s supposed to belong, where everyone thinks she belongs, nothing more than another airheaded heiress, giggling her way through daddy’s fortune. 

It could be the city itself that’s mad, she muses as she whips her leg out in a kick, her heel striking the dummy’s temple. A bender would crumple instantly under such a strike, the dummy merely rocks backwards before righting. She stares down the lifeless dummy. Whatever it may be, the city will soon right itself, correct decades of bender oppression. There is no stopping a rising tide, and the Equalist movement is a silent tsunami.

\--

The Avatar’s arrival throws a dent in their carefully laid plans. But Asami isn’t worried. She grew up watching her father navigate his way through cutthroat business partners and dealings to emerge victorious as Republic City’s captain of industry. Plans change, and the Equalists will change with them.

\--

Her father comes to the racetrack one afternoon. She’s test driving a new prototype and clocking record breaking speeds. The technicians and maintenance crew on the sidelines whoop in exhilaration as she tears by, tires squealing as she makes the sharp turns.

She brings the car to a stop and the maintenance crew descends like a swarm of bees upon the car, no doubt wanting to appear working extra hard to Mr. Sato’s watchful eyes. 

Hiroshi laughs jovially and waves to the crew as Asami hops out of the racecar and removes her helmet. She meets her father and the two exchange meaningless platitudes about Cabbage Corp not standing a chance until they walk away from any prying ears.

“You’ve heard the Avatar’s in town, I presume?”

“Of course.”

He stops walking and turns to face her. “She’s almost your age.”

“I know.”

“Apparently she was raised on a compound nearly her whole life. And what does she do when she makes it out of her little fortress? Join a probending team.”

Asami shrugs. She knows her father will ask something of her, but can’t figure out what. It doesn’t sit right with her. She can always read her dad. It used to be easier, though.

Hiroshi lays a hand on her shoulder. “Remember when you were obsessed with probending?”

“I was a little kid.”

“Maybe that old passion can help us now.”

Asami blinks. “You want me to get to know the Avatar?”

“It’s not only my idea.”

Oh. So the ever elusive Amon wants this too. “Maybe you can let me finally attend a rally, if he needs me so much.”

“That’s too dangerous, we can’t risk you being exposed.” Hiroshi sighs, the weariness creeping into his voice. “I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I wouldn’t if it wasn’t so important. You know her arrival changes our plans, and we can make the change be for the better. We need someone as smart as you for this.”

Asami doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. I’ll do anything.”

\--

She tails Mako for a solid week, learning his habits, his patterns. He picks up a job at the power plant on the afternoon shift and takes the bus home to the probending arena. One day Asami hits him with a scooter.

He’s angry at first and as shouty as she expected until she takes off her helmet, adding a hair flip for extra effect.

He literally goes speechless.

She’s all gushing apologies and soft touches as she helps him up and suggests dinner. 

He never stood a chance.

\--

She takes Mako to Kwong’s. The atmosphere is smoldering, obscured by all the smoke. Funny how people will pay so much to sit in the haze when the city alights with fog practically every night, rolling slowly down to the bay from the mountains.

\--

One night, when she’s curled against Mako on a carriage ride through the park, she wonders how he can stand it – being a firebender.

“My parents were killed when Bolin and I were little kids,” he admits haltingly. “A firebender mugged them.”

Asami lost her mother to a firebender. She hates the way they command flames, make them burn and burn and burn until there’s nothing left but bitter memories.

She’s swallowed their fire in a way they’ll never be able to, taking it deep inside her, fueling her and pushing her forward.

\--

When her father sponsors the Fire Ferrets Mako offers to get the Future Industries logo tattooed on his chest, Asami actually smiles.

Mako can almost be endearing, in his own awkward way.

Not that that changes anything.

\--

Asami meets Korra for the first time at the gala. What a waste, she thinks to herself, to throw a gala for a girl who’s done nothing but be born lucky enough to bend four elements.

She notes that Korra is indeed quite pretty. She’s seen the pictures, but it’s something else to see the girl up close and in person.

Korra, it seems, doesn’t like Asami either. She’s openly hostile to her, and Asami belatedly realizes that Korra quite obviously has feelings for Mako.

Maybe dating her crush wasn’t the best way to get close to the Avatar. No matter. She’ll work around this.

\--

Asami is buzzing with anticipation – her first time out in the field, not just hitting straw dummies but with her glove and mask tucked away in her purse. 

The breathlessness isn’t only from that: Asami can barely admit the truth to herself, but she’s starting to enjoy probending. She feels a pang of regret when the Fire Ferrets lose. She tells herself the regret is at the loss of her favorite team, and not at Korra’s devastated face.

She observes the Avatar because that is her job. She won’t let her father and Amon down, and if that means tuning into Korra’s every expression, so be it.

As Amon takes the arena stage, she slips out of her private box and heads for the roof, slipping her Equalist mask on.

It’s a shame, really, what happens to the arena. It’s gorgeous, a marvelous piece of architecture. The golden lights bathe the block and surrounding bay, such an airy contrast to the rest of the city’s dark and haze.

She doesn’t fight Korra that night. She hates that she feels relief. Asami’s been training all her life too, and control of all the elements means nothing when your chi’s stopping up, swirling in place like a festering wound. She tells herself the relief comes from cowardice.  
It’s easier than admitting she might not want to fight Korra.

\--

Mako and Bolin move into the Sato mansion. Keep your enemies close, as they say, and right above the secret underground Equalist factory.

Asami breaks it off with Mako. He’s confused but not particularly upset. She has him right where she needs him, and she can get close enough to Korra now without using him as an excuse. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it when the words don’t come. He awkwardly rubs the back of his head, unable to make eye contact and finally mumbles something about him and Bolin grabbing their stuff and moving out.

Asami’s eyes widen, mortified.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant at all,” she assures him. “You and Bolin are welcome to stay as long as you need. It’s just… I don’t see it working out between us.”

Mako nods, clearly relieved. Asami turns away so he doesn’t see how angry she is with herself. He grew up on the streets an orphan, of course he’s worried about where he’d live next. It never even crossed Asami’s mind. For all that nonbenders deal with, benders don’t always have it easy either.

She shakes the thought away. Now, of all times, is not the moment to gain a newfound sympathy for benders.

\--

Asami takes Korra racing when she visits. The Avatar admits afterwards that she pegged Asami wrong as a helpless heiress.

Asami doesn’t let her eyes flash and smiles through the slight. The Avatar isn’t the first person who told her this.

\--

To Asami’s dread and delight, Korra becomes a more common fixture at the Sato mansion, visiting Mako and Bolin, and, Asami realizes with a start, her too.

The four of them fall into easy routine. Korra, Mako, and Bolin practice sparring near the race grounds. Asami always watches. It’s poor form to give up the ability to study benders this easily.  
That’s what Asami tells herself. She’s studying the three, as she would new Satomobile designs. Like she’s need to pore over new specs, she observes Korra with a laser like focus, only realizing how intently she’s staring when Korra catches her.

In the spirit of observation, Asami notes that Korra will start a fight with fire. She initially thinks it’s Korra’s favored element but realizes that she can bend all three with the same mastered proficiency. 

She bends in the classical styles, while Mako and Bolin fight as they learned on the streets and from the triads. Mako is a powerful firebender and he knows it. Bolin, while not possessing the sheer raw magnitude bending ability, is no less powerful. Asami’s never seen an earthbender hurl boulders without touching the ground. For someone so large, Bolin is deceptively nimble.

Korra catches Asami watching her and takes a moment to throw her a small, crooked smile while defending herself two against one.

Asami smiles back and blows her a kiss before she can let herself think twice. Korra actually stumbles at this, leaving herself open to an earth disk flung right into her midsection. She goes down with an oomf but pops right back up.

“Oh yeah,” Bolin whoops, slapping Mako on the shoulder. “Bending brothers 1, the Avatar… uh, 12?”

Asami can’t stop the completely undignified snort that escapes her. Bolin looks at her in disbelief and breaks into laughter.

“Asami, you should join us,” he calls over. “You can fight, right?”

She shrugs nonchalantly. “I’ve had some self-defense lessons.”

“C’mon, let’s spar, we won’t use bending.”

She knows she shouldn’t. There is no reason for her to go over there and let them see how she fights, her strengths and weaknesses, to let on just how good she is.

But then Korra looks at her. “Think you can take me on?” She’s all arrogance in her teasing and damn if that doesn’t drive Asami to her feet and towards the three.

She lowers her voice more than necessary. “Show me what you got, Avatar.”

Korra blinks, flustered, then charges right at her. Without bending, Korra fights like a firebender, all direct attacks and aggression. And why wouldn’t she? She’s strong and trained by the best.

But Asami’s learned even better. She can’t use her chi blocking, naturally. Evading your opponent and letting them tire themselves is a good move for most, but not on Korra with her seemingly endless stamina.

Asami sidesteps the first attack, thinking quickly on her feet.

Korra packs so much energy in her strikes, much more than Asami ever could.

So she uses it against her.

Korra’s explosive punches and kicks leave her exposed for far too long. Asami dodges and evades, only making a few half-hearted efforts at punches that Korra easily sideswipes. She smiles cockily. “That all you got, Asami?”

Asshole, Asami thinks. She’s not even breaking a sweat. “Honestly, I was expecting more from you.”

That gets the desired effect. Korra overextends on the next punch and Asami slips half of herself right under the Avatar’s shoulder, setting herself up for a throw. The next moment Korra is on her back, staring dazedly at the sky with Asami’s knees and hands pinning her to the ground.

They stare at each other, Korra openmouthed, Asami breathing hard, not from the exertion.

Bolin’s hoots snap them apart. Asami stands and holds down a hand for Korra, who begrudgingly grabs it. Asami doesn’t miss the heat where they touch.

“Oh man, Mako did you see that? Asami was like wapow and Korra was like boosh!” Bolin shakes his hands out, eyes shining.

Asami can’t tear her eyes off Korra’s searing gaze.

“You fighting style reminds me of a waterbender, you know that?”

No, Asami did not know. How could she possibly know what Korra thinks, what Korra saw of waterbending, surrounded by endless snow and ocean and ice in the South Pole, tucked away at the edges of the world. 

Asami finds she wants to know.

\--

Korra, with a rare day off from airbending training, spent the whole day at the Sato mansion. Now with the sun setting behind the mountains and the brothers off lounging in the pool, Korra and Asami play pai sho in the courtyard.

Korra is not a good pai sho player. Asami goes easy on her. She doesn’t know why. She doesn’t particularly care. Korra scrunches her face as she thinks, plotting her next move that Asami knows will be doomed no matter what. Asami had her locked two moves ago, could’ve had her locked five moves ago if she wanted to end the game earlier, but Korra looks beautiful in the light of the setting sun, her dark skin turned molten.

Korra is doomed no matter her move and Asami can’t get rid of the tightening feeling in her chest, building and building over the past weeks.

Korra moves her lotus piece and Asami knows the game is hers, yet feels like she’s losing either way.

Concentration broken, Korra looks up and blinks. “Wow, I did not realize it was so late, I need to head back to Air Temple Island.”

“You can stay here if you want. We certainly have space for you.”

Korra stands, brushing off her pants. “Thanks, but I’ve got to get back. Tenzin will worry.” She hesitates, wanting to say more. “He worries more now, ever since… you know, everything.”

Asami does know. Korra’s faceoff with Amon ending in an ambush, the attack on the pro-bending arena. Korra’s met Amon more than Asami, loyal Equalist and daughter of the movement’s financial backer, has. Asami wants to ask Korra what about Amon makes everyone so scared, how a man who stays in the shadows can cast such a pall over an entire city.

Korra scuffs her boot on the ground, not meeting Asami’s eyes. “And I… well, I’ve been having a hard time sleeping.” She plays with her armband, muscles taut under the fabric. “It’s the nightmares. I feel safe on Air Temple Island. Also, I still can’t airbend.” She looks away, embarrassed at the perceived show of weakness. “It’s stupid, I know, I’m the Avatar, I shouldn’t be scared of him.”

Asami doesn’t want to ask Korra questions about Amon anymore. She doesn’t care. She wants to grab Korra’s hand and tell her she doesn’t have to carry this burden alone. But Asami can’t do that. So she does what she can. “Let me give you a ride to the ferry, at least.”

\--

Asami speeds down the mountain roads leading away from the estate and into the city, her custom Satomobile with the top down revving as she throttles the car, a little for Korra’s benefit. The worry falls from the girl’s face as she grins in elation, gripping the side of the car and leaning forward, as if that’ll cause the car to speed up.

Asami steps on the gas.

She slows down as they enter the heart of the city. Shopkeepers start closing for the night as the sun dips below the horizon while the bars begin flickering awake.

Nighttime makes the dangerous city look deceptively safe. The warm streetlights cast the streets into a soft haze, beautiful enough to forget the triads making their rounds and shaking down innocent families. It’s good to think about the triads, Asami tells herself. It keeps her attention on the road and her purpose, and not on how Korra looks ephemeral in the city’s glow.

Korra, for once, does not notice Asami’s glances, too busy looking out the window. “Republic City almost seems magical at night.”

Asami can’t help the laugh that escapes. Korra turns to her, still smiling. “What?”

“It’s just, you say it’s magical when it’s nothing but the lights from the electricity that we draw from the power plants. But you bend all the elements and are the bridge between our world and the spirits, and you find this magical?”

“I guess we see the magic in what we don’t know.”

Asami blushes and blames the wind whipping at her face.

\--

They reach the ferry boarding dock later than anticipated, Asami having driven at a leisurely pace to let Korra experience the magic.

The two step out of the car and Korra turns to look back at the city. Further away from the hubbub, Asami allows herself to feel some of that magic. The city lights do look gorgeous.

“Thanks for the ride.” Korra steps into Asami’s space effortlessly and hugs her. Asami freezes for a moment before hugging back, her mind racing. Is this the first time Korra hugged her? Yes, likely. What does this mean? Nothing, why does it have to mean anything? Korra’s a hugger, she sees how easily she doles physical affection to Mako, Bolin, the airbenders. The fact that she’s taken this long to hug Asami probably reflects poorly on Asami’s character. Not wrongly, of course. Asami is supposed to be plotting the Avatar’s downfall.

After what seems like forever and not long enough Korra lets go. She’s got a strange look in her eyes. “Thanks again.” She gives a stiff wave before jumping into the harbor, immediately forming a water sprout to take her away.

Asami groans and covers her eyes. Why did she freeze up like a broken machine? It was just a hug. She gets back in her car and begins the drive back.

The warmth is quick to leave her body, gone with Korra’s departure. She’s doomed, Asami knows. A tremor passes through her hands and she grips the wheel tighter.

\--

She’s parked her car and enters her house, rubbing her hands together as she enters the foyer. Summer seems to have come and gone in a haze with Korra and the brothers, fall quickly approaching and bringing a welcome respite from the stifling heat.

Her father stands waiting for her in the foyer. This in and of itself isn’t unusual. When home, Hiroshi will make the effort to spend time with his daughter, asking about her day. But it’s the way he carries himself so seriously tonight, a man on a mission, that tells Asami she’s going to hate whatever he says.

She puts on a bright smile. “Hey dad.”

He smiles back, disarmed. He’s not addressing faceless Equalists. This is his daughter. He pulls Asami into a hug. “What did you learn today, sweetie?”

This is a thing they do, ever since Asami was a little girl. Hiroshi used to ask everyday what she’d learned, because genius is worked for, never bestowed. When she was a child she’d tell her father how the radio worked, or why the North and South Poles were so cold. As she grew older she would demonstrate rather than just explain, building Satomobile engines single-handed.

Today, she learned how warm Korra feels.

“I’m going to try different brake plates on my car. I think ceramic would work a lot better than the metal we use.”

Hiroshi nods absentmindedly. “Yes, that sounds like a great idea.” He’s retreating again, again distant like he was when Asami came into the room.

Asami wonders when her father changed so much. She wonders when she changed.

“Asami, you’ve been doing a good job with Korra. But the time to act is near. Amon needs her on the Equinox Festival.”

Asami knew this day would come. No matter that she didn’t acknowledge it, lulled herself into complacency with Bolin’s constant laughter, Mako’s awkward puns, Korra’s lopsided smile.

She nods her head. Her orders are understood. Hiroshi relaxes, minutely. He sees how close her daughter is to the three benders, and perhaps he was just a little paranoid that she wouldn’t act when needed. But he’s raised her better than that.

Hiroshi starts up the stairs toward his study, Asami following. “You’ll need to subdue her the day of. While she isn’t much of an Avatar yet, who knows what imminent danger might trigger, and we can’t afford to hold her for long.”

Asami bristles at Hiroshi’s words. Korra’s only seventeen, she’s a great Avatar given everything.   
He steps behind his desk and opens a locked drawer with a key he always keeps on him. From within, he pulls out a single dart, gingerly handing it to Asami. “Shirshu venom, enough to incapacitate a person for two hours. I don’t recommend betting on more than one, though.”

Asami turns the dart in her hand. So this is how she’ll betray her friend.

“I can coordinate with the Lieutenant to arrange delivering the Avatar to Amon once you’ve secured her –”

“No,” Asami interrupts. “I’ll take care of it myself. Just tell me where.”

Hiroshi scrutinizes her for a second, then nods.

\--

Asami has two weeks until she betrays her only friends. Korra’s back again, the four of them hanging out at Asami’s mansion as if nothing has changed. Korra practices her airbending forms while Bolin tries to teach Pabu tricks, Mako feigning disinterest but looking over at Pabu every few seconds. Finally, he can’t take it anymore.

“Bo, you can’t keep feeding him treats when he doesn’t get the trick! You’re only supposed to reward him when he does it correctly.”

Bolin gasps dramatically and covers Pabu’s ears with his hands. “I don’t know how Pabu’s uncle could be so cruel! He deserves all the treats in the world.”

Korra stops moving in circles to laugh, and even Asami looks up from her sketches and smiles.  
Bolin stands up, grabbing the fire ferret. “Pabu and I are going for a swim. Gotta take advantage of the pool while the weather’s still nice.”

“It’s an indoor pool, Bolin,” Mako calls after him. He shakes his head and comes to sit next to Asami as Korra resumes her practice.

Asami likes that there isn’t any awkwardness left between her and Mako. Not that it’ll make a difference in two weeks when she ruins them all, but for now, it’s nice.

Mako shakes his head in exasperation. “He’s acting more...Bolin than usual lately, and that’s saying something.”

Asami shrugs. “Maybe you’re just jealous of not being able to train Pabu?”

Mako reddens. “It’s definitely not that.” He rubs his neck, looking away. “Look, I know I’ve said it before, but thank you.”

Asami’s brow furrows in confusion. “For what?”

“For letting us stay her this whole time. I can’t even pay you back for everything you’ve done for me and Bolin. Since the arena was attacked and probending suspended, we’ve been...dead weight.”

Asami feels a pang of guilt. She’s part of the reason Mako lost his livelihood, his ability to provide for his younger brother. “Mako, please don’t, you two are welcome here for as long as you want. Besides, I like the company, the house isn’t as empty with you two here.”

This is what she does, give a morsel of truth for the mountain of lies. But Mako relaxes nonetheless.

\--

Korra’s attacking her airbending training with new vigor, Asami notices. Korra still can’t airbend, to her great frustration, but by working through her forms again and again and again, Korra probably hopes to simply will a breeze into existence.  
“I don’t know why I can’t do it,” Korra groans one evening, splayed on her back in the grass. A breeze blows through, causing Asami to shiver. Korra just groans louder. “That should’ve been me, not the stupid wind.”

Asami has the sudden urge to run her fingers through Korra’s hair, comfort her and tell her airbending will come to her soon.

Korra slaps her hands on the ground. A small tremor rolls through the earth. “And then there’s the whole stupid thing with Tarrlock, the corrupt, smug, dumb –”

“Let’s get your mind of this,” Asami interjects.

Korra looks up at her, still grumpy. It’s exceedingly adorable.

“You, me, Mako, and Bolin. Let’s go grab some dinner in the city.”

“Tenzin will want me back at the island for dinner…” Korra grumbles.

“We can get Water Tribe food.”

“I’m in.”

\--

She drives them into the city, the setting sun blazing in her rearview mirror. They end up at a tiny eatery Korra suggests – she’s heard this is some of the most authentic Southern Water Tribe place north of the South Pole itself.

It’s a small hole-in-the-wall shop, barely large enough to fit the four of them. Asami scans the menu, out of her element. She’s never eaten much Water Tribe food, preferring the heated flavors of Fire Nation inspired cuisine instead.

Korra throws out recommendations, recommending the octopus noodles for a more bold flavor, or the sea-prune stew for a more earthy tone, or perhaps the leopard-seal steaks if she’s feeling adventurous.

Korra orders a bowl of seaweed noodles, and after one last glance at the menu, Asami asks for the same.

They eat quickly, hungrier than they realized. Bolin burps loudly, and Korra matches him. The two break into peals of laughter that shake the whole restaurant while Mako crinkles his nose in disgust, unable to hide the smile in his eyes at his brother’s unabashed joy.

Asami pays and they make their way out. Korra is grinning, alive, bright, burning, in the dim glow of surrounding shops and streetlights, and Asami thinks the city suites her better than it should.

Bolin pats his belly. “I don’t know about you guys, but I sure could go for some dessert.”

Korra enthusiastically agrees. Mako suggests a bakery a few blocks down. He shrugs at Asami’s surprise: what can he say, he has a sweet tooth.

They walk, leaving Asami’s car parked in front of the restaurant. Mako leads the way, Bolin right behind him. Korra and Asami lag behind, walking in lockstep. The sidewalks are narrow in this part of town, barely enough room for two people to pass. Korra’s hand brushes her.

Asami clenches her fist. In three days she’ll deliver Korra to Amon.

Korra’s looking at her. From the corner of her eye she can read her friend like an open book: contemplative, daring, drunk on the cold city night.

She forces herself not to meet Korra’s gaze. She thinks of what will happen in three days time. She’ll deliver Korra to Amon. And then what? She doesn’t allow herself to think past this. But she needs to. Be logical, Asami. Know what you’re doing. Know the consequences of your actions.

Amon will take Korra’s bending. The Avatar will be no more.

For what?

No, don’t ask yourself stupid questions. You know why you’re doing this. Your mother was killed by a firebender. Benders mistreat nonbenders, abuse them, treat them as sub-humans. She’s an Equalist, she’ll put an end to this.

Korra stills, putting a hand on Asami’s arm. It feels like a shock from her glove.

“Asami, you okay? You look…” she waves her hand. “Away.”

Asami isn’t sure if she can do this anymore. She has to.

“Sorry, got lost in thought.” She puts on a bright smile. “I can’t wait to try these egg tarts Mako loves so much.”

The tarts are perfectly flaky and buttery, the custard made to perfection. It all tastes like ash to Asami.

\--

Asami pockets the shirshu dart, sitting on her bed. Korra will meet her at an old warehouse in the Dragon Flats borough this evening, thinking that’s where the four of them are going to meet up before going to Asami’s favorite jazz club.

Asami will drug Korra there, then take the Avatar away to the Lieutenant, a nondescript location in the mountains.

For once, Asami doesn’t think. She simply acts, one task taking her forward to the next. She won’t think about Korra’s pain.

Distantly, she hears her doorbell ring. She frowns. Mako and Bolin are in the city the entire day.  
She hears the butler greet Avatar Korra, hears him say how it is always a pleasure to have her presence in the household.

He’s an Equalist, of course, who knows what will happen today. He’s giving Asami a warning.  
Asami slips into the spare room next to hers. She hears Korra bound up the stairs, breathless, bursting into her room.

“Asami, you won’t believe it,” she says. “The whole thing with Tarrlok – I know everything – Amon is –”

Asami slides up silently behind Korra, plunging the dart into her arm. Korra falls forward, and Asami thinks it’s the greatest mercy in the world she doesn’t see it’s Asami who betrayed her.

\--

Asami drags Korra to a small storage room on the edges of the estate. It’s a small, dark room, once used to keeping spare parts but abandoned when the water damage made the place unusable. Korra’s never been in here, it’s unrecognizable.

Asami’s put on her Equalist suit and mask. She won’t let herself think of Korra’s reaction were she to see her face. 

She’s chained Korra’s hands and feet. She doesn’t let herself think about why she spent her time taking Korra to a small shed rather than getting her in the car and into the mountains.

Why would she need to think when she knows the answers.

Korra stirs, the chains clanking. It’s only been a half hour since Korra was hit with the paralyzer, but Asami’s not surprised.

Korra’s first reaction is to kick up and try to send a burst of fire right at Asami. It’s a good thing Asami chi blocked her.

Korra’s eyes burn with rage. “Where’s Asami?”

Asami switches on the voco-changer, her own personal invention. Her voice comes out distorted, the tremors hidden by the robotic intonation. “She’s safe.”

“What did you do to her?” Korra roars, flipping herself over her back into a standing position, a force of nature even in chains without her bending.

Korra charges directly at Asami. Asami steps aside deftly. “Listen to me, Avatar. You need to leave this city at once. Go back to the South Pole. You’ll lose your bending, or worse, if you stay.”

Korra attempts a kick, stumbling slightly at the pull of the chains. “Oh, and you care so much about how I’m doing?”

Asami steps into her space, closer than she should. “Leave. Please.” She ducks just in time to avoid Korra’s fist.

Even in chains, she fights incredibly well. They fall into the same easy patterns. It’s just another sparring match, really. Something shifts in Korra’s eyes, a spark that causes her to set her mouth and attack with renewed vigor.

The Avatar’s improved since their match-up, but old mistakes die hard, and Korra throws a punch too wide, trying to catch Asami before she moves out of range. Asami slips back in, intending to knock Korra out with a quick strike to her solar plexus, but to her shock Korra anticipates her move and counters, trapping Asami in an arm bar.

They stare at each other, Korra’s bright blue eyes staring into her reflection on Asami’s googles. Korra leaning over her as she pushes her down, Asami’s back going closer and closer to the floor as she struggles to remain on her feet.

Korra brings her free hand to Asami’s face. Her hand hovers at the juncture on her neck where mask meets jumpsuit. “Like a waterbender,” Korra breathes softly before she pulls Asami’s mask off, and Asami knows this is how it always would’ve ended, that Korra would’ve made her every single time if they did this in a thousand lives.

The fight has left her body. Neither of them move. Korra’s blue eyes, stormy with betrayal and heartbreak, meet Asami’s green ones, shining with unshed tears.

Korra lets her go and Asami stumbles back. Her blue eyes have hardened. “How long?” She demands to know, “how long have you been working with them?”

Asami’s silence is her answer.

“Was anything real?” Korra’s voice grows louder as she demands answers. “Or have you been lying to me from the moment we met?”

“Korra, please, I won’t hurt you –” Asami takes a step towards her and is met with a chunk of the floor sent whizzing to her head. A warning shot.

“Stay away from me,” Korra snarls. “I can’t believe how stupid I was. I should’ve known someone like you –”

“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

This time it’s Korra’s silence that answers, inflaming Asami. “What, just because I’m a non-bender I’m the bad guy?”

“That’s not what I mean –”

“You don’t know what they took from me. My mother, I watched a firebender cut her down when I was six years old. He had no reason to, my father and I were defenseless, he could’ve robbed the whole mansion for all he cared. But he did it because he was a cruel bender who knew people like me couldn’t defend ourselves. I have never, ever wanted to be a bender since then. I take care of myself just fine without it. All non-benders deserve that.”

Korra’s breathing has steadied slightly. She looks tired now. “Asami,” she says softly, “it’s all a lie. Amon is a bender.”

Asami hears what she said. Comprehension is another story. “What?”

“Amon is a bloodbender. So is Tarrlok. They’re brothers. Tarrlok told me.” She shifts uncomfortably. “Amon took his bending.”

Tarrlok was always a target. There was no world in which the corrupt Northern Water Tribe representative got away with his bending in the Equalist revolution. Amon being his bloodbending brother wasn’t part of the equation.

Asami’s head is spinning. “It’s all a lie. Do you know how many people this will destroy?”

“The Equalists are done for, Amon is a bender.”

“It’s never been just about Amon! This city is cruel, Korra, in a way you’ve never known. This was supposed to help us be better.” She staggers back, hitting the wall. The weight of the revelation crashes down on her. Years and years of work, gone down the drain due to a false prophet. Legitimate grievances never given the light of day, automatically dismissed as Equalist ravings. The city’s salvation would be its undoing.

Korra takes a cautious step towards her. “You were trying to help.”

Asami laughs hollowly.

Another step towards her. “Why were you going to let me go?”

Asami turns her head away from Korra. The truth is too naked in her eyes. “I didn’t want you hurt,” she answers gruffly.

Korra thankfully doesn’t push. “I need to stop Amon.”

It’s now or never. “I’ll come with you.”

\--

They decide Asami should take Korra to the Lieutenant after all. Korra is “tied up” in the trunk and Asami tries to avoid the potholes. She can spare her a little pain after everything else she’s inflicted.

When the Lieutenant opens the trunk he’s greeted by a plume of fire he narrowly avoids. Korra’s surprise attack throws him off his game, allowing Asami to sneak up behind him and shock him with her glove. He crumples to the floor like a rag doll.

The Lieutenant brought a driver of his own to transport the Avatar to Amon, some kid barely over eighteen who’s legs shake when he sees Korra stalk towards him but holds his ground. It doesn’t take much to get the information out of him: Amon will be at the probending arena, finishing what he started there.

\--

It goes worse than Asami expects. She’s heard the stories about Yakone but she never expected bloodbending to be so… heart stopping. So this is how she’ll die. The last thing Asami sees before fading away is a blinding white light.

\--

Asami drove to the arena in record time. The streets were desolate as if the whole city knew today was it’s last. The buildings cast long shadows, looking as if they’d bend down and swallow her and Korra whole.

The echoing cheers of the audience inside reverberated as they snuck in through the back. Korra had a grim set to her face – this time Amon wouldn’t get the upper hand at a rally.

That hope froze and shattered like Northern ice when they saw Mako and Bolin shackled and gagged in the training room.

They ran towards the brothers who were shouting and squirming, frantically shaking their heads. 

How stupid of her not to realize their warning.

They froze midstep. Amon stepped out of the shadows. “Avatar Korra,” he spoke as if she was an old friend, “I thought there might be some trouble in getting you here. Good thing I brought your friends.” 

Asami wanted to scream, to shout, to spit in Amon’s face, but she can’t move a single muscle.  
“I’ll save you three for the audience. Won’t it be amazing to see the Fire Ferrets lose once again in the probending arena?” He turned his faceless mask on Asami. “And you, how disappointing. Imagine what your father will say when he learns you’re siding with benders now. It’s such a shame when a bright young person like you is captured in a bender’s allure. Such a shame there’s no fixing it either.”

Korra struggled in his bloodbending grip. Her neck muscles twitched. Amon tightened a fist. “Quite strong now, aren’t you Avatar Korra? Too bad you’ve doomed your friend.”

He squeezed his other fist and Asami gasped. Her heart felt like it was collapsing in on itself, squeezed into an infinitesimally small point until it would cease to exist.

Distantly, she heard her friends scream. Her vision grayed at the edges and darkened until she saw nothing but a blinding white light. She felt a wind take her away.

\--

Asami opens her eyes in a simple wooden bedroom. For a small moment everything feels okay until she took a breath and gasps in pain, which only serves to send more daggers through her heart. A chair clatters as Korra rushes to her side.

“Korra,” Asami rasps, “where am I?”

The room is dark and the Avatar’s eyes are puffy. She sat here all night crying, Asami belatedly thinks.

“We’re on Air Temple Island, you’re safe now.”

Asami takes another painful breath. “What happened?”

Korra hesitates. “Amon… he tried to kill you. He was bloodbending your heart. You didn’t wake up the whole night.”

“How did I get here?” She can’t afford to use so many words. “Mako and Bolin?”

“They’re safe, also on the Island.”

“Amon?”

“Captured. The White Lotus is making plans to lock him somewhere far away he’ll never escape.”

“How?”

“Well, they’ve got these special prisons they build –”

Asami shakes her head. “How?”

Korra’s hand raises of its own accord to brush Asami’s forehead. She suddenly realizes what she’s doing and pulls away, cheeks burning. Asami wishes she didn’t.

“I – when I saw what he was doing to you, I – I don’t know, I lost it. I guess I went into the avatar state and airbent for the first time. And I can also restore people’s bending.” Korra says this so sheepishly Asami has to blink several times to absorb the message, her eyes widening as it sinks in.

“You –”

“Yeah.” She shifts between her feet. “I sent him straight through the walls into the harbor. Everyone saw him waterbend.”

Korra grasps Asami’s hand tightly. She doesn’t pull away this time. “I was so scared I’d lost you. I healed you there, a little bit, before we brought you back to the Island. Air Alcolytes and waterbending healers from the city took care of you. Tenzin’s sister Kya is also coming from the South Pole, she’s one of the best healers in the world.” Asami feels Korra’s hand tremble. “Asami, they said it’ll take a while to heal.”

She nods in understanding. Logically, Asami knows that she hasn’t absorbed the full weight of what’s happened to her. Right now, she’s just grateful to be alive. There’s one more question she has to ask. “My father?”

Korra gives her the grace of not breaking eye contact. “Missing. No one knows where Hiroshi fled.”

\--

Asami’s sitting on the dock with her pants rolled up, idly dipping her toes in the water. She hears Korra come up behind her. She recognizes the way Korra walks now, after three weeks at the air temple. She recognizes a lot of things about Korra.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Please do.”

Korra plops down next to her, shucking her shoes off and dropping her feet into the water. She moves in idle circular motions, waterbending tiny waves. “Airbending training today sucked. Tenzin keeps badgering me about my form and Meelo threw an egg custard at me. Apparently that’s a traditional airbending ritual?”

Asami laughs. The pain she’s gotten accustomed to over the last several weeks has almost disappeared, Kya’s healing working wonders. She only really laughs around Korra nowadays. It’s still a little awkward with Bolin and Mako. Bolin forgives her more easily thank Mako does. She can’t blame either of them. She allows herself to hope the three of them will be okay one day.

Korra falls silent, a somberness taking over. They talk everyday for a reason – to give and get updates on Hiroshi. With Amon and the Lieutenant locked away, Hiroshi is the highest ranking Equalist member on the loose. “There’s no sign of him yet. He’s got to turn up soon though.”  
Asami isn’t so sure. The Sato fortune is one of the largest in the world and money buys discretion.

Korra must see it on her face as she asks “what’s wrong?”

Asami sighs. “I’m done for, Korra. My father is the one who bankrolled the Equalists and I was one of them. Our company and reputation are done for.”

“No,” Korra says fiercely, turning to fully face her. “You can’t just lose hope like that. Not after everything we’ve been through. You’ll find a way, I know it. I’ll be there for you the entire way.”

Asami blinks away the tears suddenly welling in her eyes. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means.”

Korra’s eyes seem to pierce into her soul. Maybe she does know. 

Korra turns away again, looking over the harbor at the city. The sun has just begun to set, throwing Republic City into a golden light. “I won’t ever get tired of this sight.”

Asami tangles her hand with Korra’s. They hold on tightly, leaning into one another. The city’s never looked so beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading fanfiction since I was probably far too young to but this is my first ever fic, for the show/franchise and fandom that's brought me so much joy, and to the ship that meant so much to high school me when it happened, and continues to forever hold a special place in my heart.
> 
> All comments and constructive criticism welcomed :)


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